The Symbol of Faith
Everything the Church believes fits into a few lines agreed at the Councils of 325 and 381. They are read at every Liturgy and learned by heart before baptism. The Orthodox read the Creed in its original form — without the later Western addition that the Spirit proceeds “and from the Son”.
The full text of the Creed in five languages is in the Prayers section.
The God no one has seen, and the Christ who was seen
Christians believe in one God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit: not in three deities, and not in three masks of one, but in a Trinity, one in essence. This is not a formula to memorise but a way of saying that God is not solitary and that love in Him comes first.
The Son of God became a human being — was born, ate, grew tired, was executed as a criminal and rose again. This is why Orthodoxy holds so firmly to bodily things: the water of baptism, bread and wine, oil, touch, the bow. Faith here is not an exercise of the mind but something done with the whole body.
The Church and the sacraments
The Church is neither a building nor an administration but an assembly gathered around a cup. What happens in it above all is the Divine Liturgy, where bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. Everything else — the schedule, the language, the jurisdiction — arranges this rather than replaces it.
- Baptism
- Entry into the Church. Adults are baptised after instruction, children on the faith of parents and godparents.
- Chrismation
- The gift of the Holy Spirit, given immediately after baptism.
- Eucharist
- Communion in the Body and Blood — that for which the Liturgy exists.
- Repentance
- Confession. Not a report of misdeeds but a return; the priest is a witness, not a judge.
- Marriage
- The crowning: a shared road towards God, not a ceremony for photographs.
- Ordination
- Setting apart for service: deacon, priest, bishop.
- Anointing of the sick
- Prayer for the healing of soul and body.
The icon
An icon is not a portrait and not a decoration. It is testimony that God became visible and can therefore be depicted. Praying before an icon, an Orthodox Christian addresses not board and pigment but the one portrayed. The Seventh Ecumenical Council of 787 put it exactly so: the honour given to the image passes to its prototype.
Fasting, prayer, almsgiving
Three things that hold together and do not work apart. Fasting is not a diet: it is a voluntary restriction that frees time and attention. Prayer is not a demand made of God but presence before Him. Almsgiving is what keeps the first two from turning into an exercise in self-improvement.
The measure of the fast differs for someone travelling, someone ill, a pregnant woman, a child and a person doing heavy physical work. It is settled with your priest, not on the internet.
If you are coming for the first time
- You may come at any time and without preparation. Stand wherever is comfortable; sitting down when standing is hard is not a sin.
- Communion follows confession and fasting — arrange the order with the priest in advance, not in the last minute before the cup.
- Candles are lit for the living and for the departed; this is neither a payment for a service nor an obligation.
- If you are not Orthodox, that is no barrier to being present. Communion in the Orthodox tradition presupposes belonging to the Church, and that is worth discussing calmly with the priest.
- Children are allowed to be children in church. A community that cannot bear this has a bigger problem than noise.